PLAYER PROFILE

STATISTICS & HISTORY

William “Red” Holzman played basketball for Franklin Lane High School in Brooklyn. He attended the University of Baltimore before transferring to the City College of New York where he played basketball for two years and was named an All-American in 1942. Holzman served in the Navy during World War II. In 1945, he joined the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League. Rochester won the NBL championship and Holzman was named was Rookie of the Year. Holzman played for Rochester for eight successful seasons. In 1951, the Royals won the NBA championship. In 1953, Holzman was hired as player-coach of the Milwaukee Hawks. He remained as coach of the team through its transfer to St.Louis in 1955. He was fired midway through the 1956–1957 season. For the next decade, Holzman served as a scout for the New York Knicks. In December of l967, he took over as head coach of the Knicks where he remained until he announced his his retirement in l977. After sitting out one season, he returned as head coach in November of 1978, and continued through the l981-82 season. The Knicks teams won NBA championships in l970 and l973. When he retired for good, Holzman was the second winningest coach in NBA history with 696 victories in regular season play. Holzman was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1986.